The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it will not block a lower-court ruling that suspended the Trump Travel Ban. The court said the U.S. government hasn’t shown a likelihood it will succeed in appealing to reinstate the ban. It also hasn’t shown that failure to reinstate the ban would cause irreparable injury.
The three-judge panel said Washington state proved it had the legal right to bring the lawsuit over the ban by alleging its universities would suffer harm. That was one of the questions that the judges considered.
This all began when U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order halting the ban last week. This was followed by US Justice Department lawyers appealing to the 9th Circuit court, arguing that the president has the constitutional power to restrict entry to the United States and that the courts cannot second-guess his determination that such a step was needed to prevent terrorism.
However, Washington state and Minnesota sued over the ban saying Trump’s travel ban harmed individuals, businesses, and universities. They cited Trump’s campaign promise to stop Muslims from entering the U.S. and said the ban was unconstitutional.
Both sides faced tough questioning during an hour of arguments yesterday which was conducted by phone and broadcast live on cable networks, newspaper websites, and social media. The judges focused on the administration’s claim that the ban was motivated by terrorism fears, while also challenging the states’ argument that it targeted Muslims.
During his remarks at a law enforcement conference, Trump said the courts blocking his divisive immigration order “seem to be so political.”
